Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-05-29
A TUNNEL TO NEW YORK
Railroads. to Enter the City Under tho
North River
a Mammoth Underground Terminal that
viii Cost ST. ,O30, 600
PhiIadelnhia Reeord.


The Importance OF reaching the central
portion of New York city as 8 terminal
has long been recognized by the mana
gers ot the different railroad lines now
entering Jersey City. The Pennsylvania
Railroad management has for years gwen
the subject serious attention and
has examined many plans. a
bridge across the Hudson river
was seriously discussed but the
project was met with so many objections
that it has been abandoned. The great
est objection TO a bridge was that it
would interfere with the commerce of
New York, and that it would involve too
great an expense to obtain such terminals
in New York city as would be needed.
The New York Central Railroad Com
the attention it is now paying
to passenger travel and having q depot
in New York city, IS securing larger
portion of the passenger business out of
that city. Travellers, it is said, are
averse to crossing on the ferries, and to
avoid doing so take the New York Cen
trial. There is, in addition to this, con-
siderable time to be saved in
having terminals in New York city
by avoiding the innumerable in
Conveniences involved in rehand-
ling baggage and changing the pas
sengers from the boats 20 the cars, with
out taking into consideration the serious
delays ferry-boatS are subject to and the
possibilities of frequent accidents. All Of
these questions have been duly weighed
by the management of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company, and have quickened
it into action 10 secure some better
means OF reaching the great |
metropolis upon the opposite side of
the river. The plan which has been pro-
posed of taking the passengers over the !
top of the ferry house at Jersey City up /
on boats with double decks, and over tle |
top of the ferry house on the New York |
side, and by g bridge to the eastern side |
of West street, and thence to connect |
with branches of the Manhattan Elevated /
Road, is declared to be only temporary |
arrangement.
TO TUNNEL THE RIVER.
The new plan contemplated, and upon
which considerable preliminary work mas
been done in the way of calculations of
expense, is by tunnel from Jersey City
directly under the Hudson river to New
York city. This plan, it is stated, is not
an adoption in any way of the tunnel
started under the Hudson in I874-1S75
by Colonel Hoskins of New York and
abandoned after the expenditure
of over $1,000, 900. Although
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company
has control of the charter under which
this tunnel wGs to have been constructed,
which charter gives the owner the right
to 20 underground to any portion of New
York or Brooklyn, the old tunnel will not
be utilized, but the underground work
will be constructed upon entirely differ
ent principles, and instead Of there being
one large tunnel there Will be two single
track tunnels built in the most sub
stantial manner. The expense of
this operation would be stupendous,
and more than one railroad cor
ooration would like TO undertake For
this reason it is proposed to tighten the {
burden of expense by making all railroad {
lines entering Jersey City parties to it.
This viii include the Pennsylvania, JERSEY I
Central, Lackawanna, Erie, Lehigh :
Valley, Susquehanna and Western and I
possibly the West Shore, All of these, /
t is stated, can obtain access to the J
by laying additional tracks in
Jersey City. There is also s possibility
u NCN 1OIL EhN AO4S4S5A CdslAldIisb5 DC-
coming interested in the plan, which is
low in the midst of financial perfection. y
DIMENSIONS OF TIE TUNNELS. {
The purpose of two tunnels is to pre- c
Tent all possibility of collisions as one of |
hem will be used for ingoing and tie b
,ther for outgoing trains. The tunnels L
will be supplied with air by large fans, :
which will also serve the purpose of Q
learing them of smoke and unpleasant s
ldors. They will be lighted BY electrici-
y, and telegraph and telephone wires
viz be run through them. Each section 8
r tGnneI will be of brick, thirty inches in
laid in hydraulic cement, and
his Will be incased in an iron tube a II
uartec of an inch in thickness. The in "
ide measurement of each will be sixteen S
,et cleSr in width, and seventeen feet in R
eight. c
The appoint of approach to the mouth of
lie tunnels On the jersey City side will e!
3 near Jersey avenue, about $500 feet 81
on the river. There will be graoual OF
sscent of two sSet in tie 100 in order to
ach the river bottom. On the New
DIRK side the approach, which is Il
lder Washington Square, will
IN half the distance to the W
ster line VITA 8 moderate descent, Al